Chapter 9

The next morning, very early, Gao Deng washed up and, feeling refreshed, set out again.

"May the goddess Wujin bless me, I hope to achieve my goal today." Gao Deng looked at the first light of dawn and prayed to the goddess of wealth, Wujin, in his heart.

On Earth, Gao Deng, who attended a world-class university, had signed a labor contract with a lunar energy development company before graduation. The job-seeking difficulties that ordinary college students experienced, Gao Deng finally experienced in this world. However, one experience was enough; he did not want to come up empty-handed again today.

Crossing the Bishui River again, Gao Deng did not wander around the business district. He planned to look for opportunities in the residential area.

At this moment, a golden line appeared on the horizon, and the autumn sun slowly rose, bathed in the rosy glow.

The black tiles on the rooftops were coated with a layer of golden light. Gao Deng noticed that the number of pedestrians on the road suddenly increased, and the fresh morning air seemed to be filled with a special fragrance.

Following the increasing crowd, Gao Deng arrived at a tall and majestic white temple. Almost all the pedestrians gathered in the spacious square in front of the temple, devoutly waiting for something.

Driven by curiosity, Gao Deng stopped.

In the open space in front of the temple stood a white marble sculpture. It was a beautiful woman, slender and draped in a thin veil, with a holy expression. She held a rising sun in her left hand and a descending moon in her right.

"It's the temple of Lady Meridia, the goddess of dawn." Gao Deng muttered to himself.

Meridia, the goddess of life, dawn, spring, and light, is generally known as Lady Meridia. Her church is widespread across the continent, with many followers, making her a powerful and benevolent deity. Even among the dark elves underground, there are her followers.

In the early morning, it is the time for the followers of Lady Meridia to pray, and her paladins and priests prepare the divine spells they will use that day.

Several solemn and elegantly dressed priests emerged from the temple.

Under the guidance of the priests, the believers knelt before the statue of the goddess and prayed devoutly.

The holy emblems in the priests' hands emitted white halos, enveloping all the believers, as if they had the power to cleanse the heart. Even Gao Deng, standing far away, could feel the divine power radiating from the halos.

This prayer ceremony broadened Gao Deng's horizons. He gained a more direct understanding that this was a world where deities truly existed and religious life was omnipresent.

After the prayer ceremony, Gao Deng was about to leave when he noticed a priest posting a notice on a bulletin board in front of the temple.

Approaching, he saw that it was a job advertisement.

Job: Guard the cemetery in the northern suburbs from midnight to 7 a.m.

Requirements: Proficiency in the 1st-level spell "Protection from Negative Energy."

Compensation: 20 gold coins per month.

Seeing a young man in a mage's robe with black hair standing there, looking interested, the priest who posted the job advertisement immediately approached.

"Young mage, are you interested in this job?"

"The compensation is quite good, I am indeed interested," Gao Deng said. "Can we discuss the job details?"

"Of course, please follow me." The priest gestured for Gao Deng to follow him into the temple.

This fifth-level middle-aged priest, named Jack, was responsible for the church's funeral affairs. On a hill in the northern suburbs, there was an ancient cemetery that had existed since the Second Era. It contained many ancient graves, some of which were so old that their origins were difficult to trace. To prevent tomb robbery or the creation of undead due to the accumulation of negative energy, the city lord entrusted the management of the cemetery to the Church of Meridia.

Although the priests of Lady Meridia are dedicated to spreading light and eliminating evil, no one likes to deal with the dead in the cemetery year-round. Therefore, the temple came up with a method: outsourcing the job of guarding the cemetery to others.

Yesterday, the previous cemetery guard, a mage, suddenly quit his job and joined an adventure team to explore the Cold Fog Mountains. This is how Gao Deng got the job.

Although the working environment was not very pleasant, the compensation was quite good, 20 gold coins a month, which most low-level mages could not earn.

"There is a shrine in the cemetery, which is the center of a large magic array. Every three hours, you must cast the 'Protection from Negative Energy' spell on the shrine to maintain the operation of the array. That's the specific requirement. Is there anything you don't understand?"

"No."

"Very good." Priest Jack took out a contract. The emblem of the Dawn Temple was already printed on it, waiting for Gao Deng to sign.

Gao Deng quickly signed his name. The text on the entire contract suddenly emitted a faint golden light, and then a chest armor pattern with a blue gear appeared in the upper right corner of the contract.

This was the symbol of Elassis, the builder of the city, the maker of laws, and the guardian of order and contracts. The law enforcers and rulers of the city worship her, and when signing a contract, her divine power ensures that the party who breaches the contract will be punished.

Priest Jack, satisfied, put away the contract, looking relieved as if a burden had been lifted.

To help Gao Deng adjust his schedule, the official work would start the next day.

Gao Deng returned home contentedly. Finally, he had found a job, and he was looking forward to receiving his 20 gold coins in a month to start his money-making plan.

For the rest of the day, Gao Deng decided to spend his time in the small study.

"Drawing and Application of Sixteen Basic Magic Runes."

"Principles of Magic Arrays."

"Introduction to Meditation."

"Three Thousand Rules for Apprentice Mages."

...

Gao Deng picked up one magic book after another, but the system told him that these books had already been read, and he could not gain any experience points from them.

Fortunately, when Gao Deng picked up a dusty black book from the corner of the bookshelf, the system gave him the answer he wanted.

"Principles of the Weave and Energy."

"Intelligence requirement: 14. Intelligence check passed, can read. Current reading progress: 0%. Final reading benefit: Arcane Knowledge +4, Experience Points +400."

The system's voice sounded in his ear.

"No wonder I haven't read this book before; the previous Gao Deng's intelligence attribute was not high enough to understand its content." Gao Deng stroked the new cover of the book, sank into the soft sofa, and began to read.

The content of "Principles of the Weave and Energy" was much more profound and obscure than "Principles and Applications of Common 1st-Level Spells," and it had a total of 104 pages. Gao Deng estimated it would take him a week to finish reading the book.

Although he had just recovered from a serious injury, Gao Deng's spirit was surprisingly abundant. He spent over ten hours in the study, only leaving to eat twice and use the bathroom a few times.

At five o'clock in the morning, Gao Deng finally freed himself from the complex magic theories in the book. He checked his mana and found that just using the Light spell for illumination had consumed half of his mana reserve.

After stretching his sore body from sitting for a long time, Gao Deng felt drowsy. He returned to his bedroom, got into bed, and fell asleep.

He didn't wake up until nine o'clock in the evening.

Walking on the city's main road under the dim moonlight, Gao Deng felt the autumn night was already a bit cold. Occasionally, a gust of wind would blow through his collar, making his body shiver.

"I must wear more clothes when I come out tomorrow night!" Gao Deng thought. He decided that once he had more money, he would cast a "Resist Elemental Damage" spell on his mage's robe to make him comfortable in extreme environments from -45°C to 60°C.

With the help of a special night pass issued by the Dawn Temple, Gao Deng was not stopped by the night patrol or the city gate guards. He smoothly arrived at the cemetery, which was a half-hour walk from Bishui City.

The cemetery was vast, covering hundreds of acres, and it took over an hour to walk around it. However, Gao Deng's job was not the traditional gravekeeper, who needed to patrol. He only needed to stay in a small house next to the shrine and cast the spell to maintain the magic array every three hours.

"Here is the key to the rest house." Priest Jack, who was waiting to hand over the job, handed a bronze key to Gao Deng. "There are dried meat, cheese, and bread in the cabinet. You can eat them if you get hungry at night. There is also strong liquor brewed by the Orlando barbarians to help you ward off the cold at night."

Gao Deng nodded, thinking that apart from the creepy working environment, this job was quite good, with a high salary and good benefits.

"Then, Mr. Mage, I wish you a pleasant night." After finishing the handover, Priest Jack politely said goodbye and left.

The vast cemetery was now left with only Gao Deng, the only living person.

Checking the hourglass, Gao Deng found it was already midnight. He went to the shrine and took out a small piece of sunstone from his pocket—this was the necessary material for casting the "Protection from Negative Energy" spell. This tiny piece of stone was worth 5 silver coins, enough for a hearty meal at a decent restaurant.

It was more like burning money than casting a spell.

Unfortunately, he would have to wait until level 11, when he could learn the "Spell Without Material Components" feat, to avoid the huge cost of spell components.

Fortunately, the Dawn Temple would reimburse the cost of the spell components for maintaining the magic array.

"Luosa-so!" Gao Deng chanted the spell, and the white light of the "Protection from Negative Energy" spell shot directly at the core of the magic array—a small statue of Lady Meridia.

"If it were an array that could automatically draw energy from the Weave, it wouldn't be so troublesome," Gao Deng thought.

After fulfilling his duty, Gao Deng returned to the small house. The long night was a good time to find something to do. He took out "Principles of the Weave and Energy" from home and continued reading.

As time passed, the system in his mind showed the reading progress bar increasing, and experience points flowed into the experience pool like drops of water.

"Snap!"

The sixth Light spell for illumination failed, plunging the small house into darkness.

At Gao Deng's current level, a single Light spell only lasted half an hour. He needed to keep casting it. Fortunately, the spell components for the Light spell were cheap, or he wouldn't dare to be so wasteful.

The seventh Light spell rose from Gao Deng's palm. He glanced at the hourglass and saw it was almost three o'clock in the morning.

"It's time to recharge the array." Gao Deng stood up and pushed open the door.

A flickering green flame appeared in the pitch-black night.

"Undead?!"